Being Contemporary: The Interdisciplinary Approaches in the Art Practice of Vu Dan Tan

Abstract

A significant methodological shift towards holistic approaches to reality in the sciences and humanities could be observed in the last quarter of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st as a result of growing attention to the nonlinear nature of the world and the corresponding nonlinear modes of thinking. The alliances forged among scientific disciplines in the 20th century demonstrated the necessity of overcoming the fragmentation of knowledge and encouraged the development of integrative thinking – an intellectual mode that unites reason, intuition, and imagination in the human mind. Such pluralism gradually advanced from multidisciplinarity in which disciplines cooperate without meaningful interaction to interdisciplinarity, characterized by the integration of distinct discourses, and ultimately to transdisciplinarity, which seeks to embrace reality in its entirety and to achieve a unity of knowledge.

The creative arts have also responded to these epistemological transformations by incorporating interdisciplinary strategies into their practice. Contemporary interdisciplinary art, in particular, reveals an engagement with critical thinking and cross-cultural references, demonstrating a commitment to social issues, with a view to fostering meaningful interaction with the audiences. In light of the mentioned development, the present paper will analyze the interdisciplinary approaches in the art of Vũ Dân Tân (1946 – 2009) that appeared at the early emergence of Vietnamese contemporary art. The analysis will focus on selected works that exemplify the integration of disciplines, methods and ideas, while simultaneously establishing dialogue with the public, articulating a new creative language.